Signal transmitting firearm

ABSTRACT

A safety feature within a firearm that emits distinctly separate warning signals, the first signal warning of the proximity of the firearm and the second signal indicative of readiness of use of the firearm. These warnings must be functioning for the firearm to be operable. The signal generating part of the safety feature is embedded within the firearm. Optionally, the safety feature includes remote annunciation and transmission of the first and second signals to remote stations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/745,316 filed Dec. 21, 2012 and the disclosure of which is incorporated by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to devices for improving safety of firearm ownership and use. More specifically, the present invention provides a public safety feature within a firearm that emits distinctly separate signals warning of the proximity of the firearm and readiness of use. The signal transmitting system must be functioning for the firearm to be operable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gun violence is a major problem in the United States of America and to a lesser extent other countries around the globe. There are many incidences of a gunman carrying undetected arsenal of guns to a public place and firing indiscriminately to kill innocent people. Recently, such incidents have been on the rise with many individuals killed in movie theaters, schools, shopping malls and the like.

The main approach to curbing gun violence has been through implementing gun control laws at State and Federal levels. Such attempts have faced fierce resistance by second amendment advocates who consider gun ownership a right that cannot be restricted. As a result, there has been little meaningful impact on the magnitude of gun violence through this approach.

Another approach has been through increased security at public places by means of deploying law enforcement personnel and installing metal detectors at potential target facilities. This approach has limited effectiveness because of the numerous facilities that need protection and comparative scarcity of resources. Recently, the use of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging for guns has been suggested as a potential viable solution. However, this method suffers from the ease with which the RFID tag can be disabled, thereby rendering the technique ineffective.

Currently, there is widespread consensus on the necessity of adopting an effective approach to reduce gun violence and provide better protection for innocent citizens. However, the main approach continues to be restrictive gun legislation, which is likely to face continued resistance and take a long time to produce meaningful results.

Therefore, there remains a need for an effective approach that can address the gun violence problem on urgent basis and be employed in a timely manner to improve protection of civilians against the guns in the public place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an answer to the above stated need with a simple and effective method that equips the gun with an embedded self-warning system that must be functioning for the gun to operate. As employed herein, the term “embedded” will be understood to signify that the embedded elements are so intimately located within the structure of the firearm that they are not capable of being removed without dismantling the firearm or performing work on the firearm other than its customary use. The system produces and broadcasts two levels of clearly detectible warning signals within a certain design distance from the gun. The signals can be different frequency radio waves, inaudible high frequency sound waves, or any modulation within the electromagnetic wave spectrum.

The first level warning signal is emitted continuously and is intended to make the mere presence of a firearm within the design distance detectible at all times. As employed herein, terms such as “gun” and “firearm” will refer to both small weapons held in one hand and also larger weapons such as rifles and shotguns, and be used interchangeably unless context clearly dictates otherwise. The second level warning is emitted whenever the gun is loaded with bullets for use and is intended to alert of the loaded status of the gun. The system is configured such that the gun cannot be operated if either the first or the second level alarm is disabled or non-functional, through either tampering, loss of battery charge, or external blocking of signal transmission.

It is an object of the present invention to enhance public safety by providing an advanced warning system to alert of the presence and status of firearms such that precautionary safety measures can be implemented. It is also an object of the present invention to make guns safer for use in normal sporting and hunting applications by communicating the status of the gun to others present. It is envisaged that the present invention would be preferred as a safer alternative to ordinary guns and can be successfully legislated into law as a requirement for all publicly available firearms.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the present invention depicting the normal non-use state of the firearm when the gun is not loaded and the ammunition magazine is not inserted in place.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the present invention depicting the ready-to-fire state when the ammunition magazine is inserted in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic representation of the invention wherein a system 100 comprises a circuit 112 embedded inside the firearm, including a battery 111 disposed to provide operable power to the circuit 112, signal transceiver 121, and signal transmitter 122 in addition to apparatus for issuing alarms and monitoring the firearm, which apparatus may include signal receivers 171 located at public places connected to appropriately positioned sound alarm 173 and optional computer monitoring system 174 via communication system 172. The firearm may be any conventional firearm having a firing mechanism for firing ammunition, a trigger 161 for operating the firing mechanism, a handle, and other necessary structure. Because the firearm itself may be conventional, it is not shown in its entirety. Also, the trigger is meant to imply any component in the firing mechanism, without which the firearm will be incapable of firing. FIG. 1 depicts the normal non-use state of the firearm during which circuit opening switch 113, which can only be closed by the insertion of ammunition magazine 131, is in the open position. In this state, only transceiver 121 is in operation and issues a signal indicative merely of the presence of the firearm, while the firearm trigger 161 is locked in place by safety latch 151, and signal transmitter 122 is silent indicating that the firearm is not loaded and cannot be fired. An important feature of transceiver 121 is in addition to transmitting a signal, it also receives and detects external radio signals which are normally presence as background noise in the environment. Absence of such background noise indicates that the gun is being externally shielded to block the signal being transmitted by transceiver 121. Therefore, transceiver 121 is configured such that it is automatically disabled after a certain duration of continuous absence of external signal being receive, which in turn renders the gun inoperable. The signal transmitter 122 is adapted to produce a warning signal indicative of a condition wherein the firearm is loaded with ammunition and therefore is in a condition ready to fire. The circuit opening switch 131 closes the circuit 112 responsive to insertion of ammunition into the firearm in a manner enabling firing of the ammunition by the firearm. A signal is transmitted automatically by the transmitter 122 upon the circuit opening switch 113 closing the circuit 112.

The system 100 may be provided with alarm apparatus which is separate from and optionally remote from the firearm. The alarm apparatus may include at least one wireless receiver and a generator of audible or visible alarms for indicating presence of the firearm and readiness of the firearm to fire. Receiver 171 can detect the signal from transmitter 122 once the gun is in a predetermined distance, which will be referred to hereinafter as the design range and energize the alarm 173 with a pre-designated audible tone, visible sign, or characteristic vibration indicating the presence of an unloaded firearm within range, while the optional computer monitoring system 174 can initiate a range of appropriate warnings and actions. Illustratively, the computer monitoring system 174 may be adapted to communicate with a security station remote from the computer monitoring system 174, civil authorities such as the police, or other parties.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the invention 100 depicting the loaded and ready-to-use state of the firearm. In this state, the ammunition magazine 131 is inserted, which closes the circuit opening switch 113 that energizes both solenoid 114, which operates the safety latch 151 unlocking the trigger 161, as well as transmitter 122. The safety latch 151 is part of a locking mechanism which ultimately acts upon the firearm trigger 161 to normally lock the trigger 161 in an inoperable position when not in use and unlock the trigger 161 to enable operability of the firing mechanism when the circuit 112 is connected to the battery 111. When the trigger 161 is in the operable position and with ammunition loaded, once the gun is within range of receiver 171, alarm 173 “sounds” a different tone to indicate the presence of a loaded firearm while the optional computer monitoring system 174 can initiate a range of appropriate warnings and actions.

It should be noted that the solenoid 141 is configured in series with both transceiver 121 and transmitter 122 such that it cannot be energized to operate safety latch 151 if either transceiver 121 or transmitter 122 is not operating as a result of damage, intentional tampering, and being automatically disabled because of external shielding. Therefore, trigger 161 can only be unlocked to fire the gun only if both transceiver 121 and transmitter 122 are operational. 

I claim:
 1. A firearm comprising a self-warning system which produces and broadcasts at least two levels of clearly detectible warning signals within a predetermined distance from the firearm, comprising a firing mechanism for firing ammunition, including a trigger operable to operate the firing mechanism; and a circuit adapted to produce warning signals including a first signal indicative of the presence of the firearm, and a second signal indicative of a condition wherein the firearm is loaded with ammunition and therefore is in a condition ready to fire.
 2. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit includes a battery disposed to provide operable electrical power to the circuit.
 3. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit includes a first transmitter disposed to produce the first warning signal and a second transmitter disposed to produce the second warning signal.
 4. The firearm of claim 3, wherein the circuit includes a circuit opening switch which closes the circuit to the second transmitter responsive to insertion of ammunition into the firearm in a manner enabling firing of the ammunition by the firearm, and wherein the second signal is transmitted automatically by the second transmitter upon the circuit opening switch closing the circuit.
 5. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism that ultimately acts upon the firearm trigger to normally lock the said trigger in an inoperable position when not in use and unlock the said trigger to enable operability of the firing mechanism when the circuit is connected to the battery.
 6. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit continuously produces and transmits the first signal.
 7. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising an alarm disposed to indicate the presence of an unloaded firearm within the predetermined distance from the alarm to the firearm.
 8. The firearm of claim 7, wherein the alarm is disposed to transmit to a remote station the signal which is indicative of the presence of an unloaded firearm within the predetermined distance from the alarm to the firearm.
 9. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising an alarm disposed to indicate the presence within the predetermined distance from the alarm of a firearm which is loaded with ammunition and therefore is in a condition ready to fire.
 10. The firearm of claim 9, wherein the alarm is disposed to transmit to a remote station the signal which is indicative of the loaded state of the firearm within the predetermined distance from the alarm to the firearm.
 11. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver to receive external radio signals.
 12. The firearm of claim 11, wherein the firearm is rendered inoperable if external radio signals are not detected by the transceiver.
 13. The firearm of claim 4, wherein the circuit includes a transmitter to transmit both the first level alarm and the second level alarm.
 14. The firearm of claim 6, wherein the circuit produces and transmits a pulsed first level signal 